1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a crimping die and, more particularly, to a crimping die adapted to prevent electrical arcing with the crimping die.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
It is extremely common in the installation tooling industry to use metals in the manufacture of crimping or forming dies. This is obvious to one skilled in the art, due to the multiple benefits that alloy and stainless steels in particular provide to both the manufacturer and the user: manufacturing processes to shape steels are well known, material properties of these metals are well understood, raw materials are readily available. There is also a positive history using metals such as 4140 steel or 17-4PH stainless steels, for example as long lasting, non-yielding crimping dies.
Crimping dies for use in installing electrical connectors are very well known. An example, the BURNDY® U-die, is a semi-circular die with an outer profile which is manufactured to a known series of dimensions and tolerances. The inner profile of the ‘U’ shape is manufactured to certain dimensions and tolerances dependant on the shape which it is designed to crimp. As an example, a U shape die which is designed to crimp a #2 gauge connector would be designed with a smaller ‘pocket’ and features than would a die designed to crimp a 500,000 circular mil gauge connector. Though the design features are the same, the inner profile is designed to match the application. Other shape dies are also commonly known—“W” dies, “V” dies, and the like. Many of these designs are manufactured by many manufacturers skilled in the art.
However, there has been an increasing trend to use installation tools and crimping dies in ‘live’ applications, where the connector or connection which is being installed is done while power is flowing through the electrical circuit which is being connected to or tapped off. The increase in this phenomenon is primarily related to the continued reliance on continuous power requirements and the desire not to remove electrical circuits from service in order to repair or upgrade power transmission or distribution systems.
As such, in situations where connectors are being installed ‘live’, many dangers can become readily apparent and this creates problems. One of the primary phenomenon occurring during live installations is “arcing”, where ionization of the air takes place causing electrical arcs. This occurs as a crimping tool and die set which is at a low potential is moved towards the live line which is at a high potential. This difference in potential will create sparks, arcing, and the like until the two components are at the same potential; at which time the arcing is mitigated.
This arcing can be dangerous to the user, who must be trained in the appropriate practices for live line installations. Also, arcing can cause severe damage to the components which are initially at the lower potential, to the point where the profile of the crimp dies can be altered by the heat and subsequent melting which are produced by the electrical arcs. This can render the die set unusable or inappropriate to use, in future applications. Further, there have been cases where the die set has fused to the crimp tool head permanently, rendering the die set and the tool unusable at a substantial cost to the user.
There is a desire to provide a crimping tool which can be used to perform “live” connector installations, but without arcing or sparks.